Army asks people not to march towards Badami Bagh Base on JRL call

In a statement issued here, an army spokesperson said Indian Army is always with the people of Kashmir and would foil all such “evil attempts of militant-Separatist-Pakistan nexus to pit the civilian population against the Security Forces.”

The Indian army on Sunday asked people not to march towards 15 corps headquarters situated at Badami Bagh Cantonment in Srinagar on call of the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL).

On Saturday, three militants were killed in an encounter at Sirnoo village and after the gunfight ended seven civilians were killed when forces fired at protesters near encounter site in the area.

In a statement issued here, an army spokesperson said Indian Army is always with the people of Kashmir and would foil all such “evil attempts of militant-Separatist-Pakistan nexus to pit the civilian population against the Security Forces.”

“The public is once again advised not to pay heed to this misleading call by JRL,” the spokesperson said.

He said the Indian army along with all the security agencies and the civil administration is “fighting militancy and Proxy War, sponsored by Pakistan and its proxies in Kashmir.”

“The objective of the Security Forces (SFs) is to bring peace and normalcy in the Valley with the support of Awaam,” he said.

On civilian killings, the army spokesperson said the security forces make every attempt to avoid any loss of civilian lives in “cross-fire and minimise collateral damage to property.”

“Loss of any civilian life is always painful for the Security Forces. However, the vested interests are continuously at work to instigate and mobilise gullible youths to encounter sites,” he said.

The call given by JRL for march to Badami Bagh Cantonment is another such attempt, he said, adding the Indian army strongly condemns this call by “Pak Proxies and advises people not to fall prey to such designs of anti-national forces.”

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) said on Saturday that “it would be far better for India” to “finish Kashmiris off once and for all” as “the Government of India (GoI) is only interested in our territory and forcibly holding it while systematically eliminating the people”.

“That is why leadership has asked the GOI to do that as we march towards their army headquarters in BadamiBagh on Monday. Or else, stop the killings and massacres and resolve the dispute and save human lives,” a statement issued by the JRL said.